Selection method of base asphalt for rubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a selection method of base asphalt for rubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis, which belongs to the technical field of selection methods of base asphalt. The selection method includes the following steps: determining factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt and rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators; ranking the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt according to respective affecting degrees thereof on each of the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators by using a grey relational method; and determining affecting factors of chemical components of base asphalt to the performance of rubber asphalt, and selecting base asphalt according to the affecting factors. The present disclosure uses the grey relational analysis method to systematically study the influences of chemical components of base asphalt on the performance of rubber asphalt.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit and priority of ChinesePatent Application No. 202011456942.2, filed on Dec. 10, 2020, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entiretyas part of the present application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of selectionmethods of base asphalt, and in particular, to a selection method ofbase asphalt for rubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, rubber asphalt has been widely used at home and abroadfor its performance advantages such as excellent rut resistance at hightemperature and cracking resistance at low temperature, good durability,and reduction of pavement noise, as well as a series of environmentallysignificant advantages such as effective recycling of waste tires. Atpresent, most studies on rubber asphalt focus on selection process,noise reduction, anti-aging performance, microscopic modificationmechanism, etc. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to theinfluences of chemical components of base asphalt on the performance ofrubber asphalt.

Base asphalt is a major raw material of rubber asphalt, and its chemicalcomponents and technical properties directly affect the subsequentmodification of asphalt and the pavement performance of rubber asphalt.The chemical components of base asphalt are closely related to an oilsource and a refining process thereof, and the composition of baseasphalt is complicated and is difficult to classify by elementalsubstances or compounds. The chemical composition and structure of baseasphalt can only be characterized indirectly by gel permeationchromatography (GPC), thin layer chromatography with flame ionizationdetection (TLC/FID), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) andthe like. During the selection of rubber asphalt, the chemicalcomponents of asphalt will have physical and chemical interactions withrubber powder particles, which may affect not only the compatibility ofrubber powder with base asphalt but also the pavement performance ofrubber asphalt. Therefore, the relation between the components of baseasphalt and the performance of rubber asphalt is particularlycomplicated. Generally, comparative analysis of base asphalt andmodified asphalt on molecular weight distribution, thermal decompositiontemperature, and functional group change is currently adopted toindirectly study the influence of changes in asphalt components on theperformance of modified asphalt. However, these methods all fail toanalyze major affecting factors by statistical methods.

SUMMARY

In view of the above problems, an objective of the present disclosure isto provide a selection method of base asphalt for rubber asphalt basedon grey relational analysis. The present disclosure provides a moreaccurate method for studying the influences of the chemical componentsof base asphalt on the performance of rubber asphalt and reasonablyselecting base asphalt, and overcome the shortcoming of lack ofsystematic methods, allowing for more accurate and reasonable selectionof base asphalt.

To achieve the objective of the present disclosure, the presentdisclosure provides the following technical solutions.

The present disclosure provides a selection method of base asphalt forrubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis, including thefollowing steps:

determining factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt andrubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators, where the factorsaffecting the performance of rubber asphalt include a saturate masspercentage, an aromatic mass percentage, a resin mass percentage, anasphaltene mass percentage, a sum of saturate and aromatic masspercentages and a sum of resin and asphaltene mass percentages in baseasphalt; and the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicatorsinclude a softening point, penetration, ductility at 5° C., viscosity at180° C. and 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubberasphalt;

ranking the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltaccording to respective affecting degrees thereof on each of the rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicators by using a grey relationalmethod; and

determining affecting factors of chemical components of base asphalt tothe performance of rubber asphalt according to the results of rankingwith respect to affecting degree, and selecting base asphalt accordingto the affecting factors.

Preferably, the determining factors affecting the performance of rubberasphalt and rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators may includethe following steps:

selecting two or more types of alternative base asphalt to preparerubber asphalt samples;

measuring the saturate mass percentage, the aromatic mass percentage,the resin mass percentage and the asphaltene mass percentage in eachbase asphalt, and calculating the sum of saturate and aromatic masspercentages and the sum of resin and asphaltene mass percentages in eachbase asphalt; and

testing the rubber asphalt samples with respect to the softening point,the penetration, the ductility at 5° C., the viscosity at 180° C. andthe 48-h segregation softening point difference.

Preferably, the ranking the factors affecting the performance of rubberasphalt according to respective affecting degrees thereof on each of therubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators by using a greyrelational method may include the following steps:

calculating grey relational grades: calculating respective greyrelational coefficients of the factors affecting the performance ofrubber asphalt to the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicatorsby using the grey relational method; calculating respective averages ofthe grey relational coefficients to obtain respective grey relationalgrades of the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt to therubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators; and

ranking the chemical components of base asphalt according to respectiveaffecting degrees thereof on each performance indicator of rubberasphalt based on the values of the grey relational grades of the factorsaffecting the performance of rubber asphalt to the rubber asphaltperformance evaluation indicators.

Preferably, the calculating grey relational grades may include thefollowing steps:

tabulating testing results: using each of the softening point, thepenetration, the ductility at 5° C., the viscosity at 180° C. and the48-h segregation softening point difference of rubber asphalt as areference variable, which is expressed as the following discretesequence:X ₀=(X ₀(k)|k=1,2, . . . ,n); n≥2;  Reference variable

where the reference variable X₀ represents a set of values on a rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicator obtained from the n types ofrubber asphalt;

using the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt ascomparative variables, each of which is expressed as the followingdiscrete sequence:X _(i)=(X _(i)(k)|k=1,2, . . . 6) (i=1,2, . . . ,n); n≥2;  Comparativevariable

where the comparative variable X_(i) represents a set of values of eachfactor affecting the performance of rubber asphalt as a variable, with irepresenting the ith component variable and k representing the kth baseasphalt;

tabulating the comparative variables and the reference variable, withdifferent variables being arranged in rows and different samples beingarranged in columns;

performing dimensional normalization: performing dimensionalnormalization on different variables by dividing each value by anaverage to obtain respective values of the reference variable and thecomparative variables, which are calculated according to Formula (1)below:

$\begin{matrix}\left\{ {{{\begin{matrix}{Y_{0} = \left\{ {{{{{X_{0}(k)}/{\overset{\_}{X}}_{0}}❘k} = 1},2,{\ldots\mspace{14mu} 6}} \right\}} \\{Y_{i}\left\{ {{{{{X_{i}(k)}/{\overset{\_}{X}}_{i}}❘k} = 1},2,\ldots\mspace{14mu},6} \right\}\left( {{i = 1},2,\ldots\mspace{14mu},6} \right)}\end{matrix}{where}\mspace{14mu} k} = 1},2,{\ldots\mspace{14mu}\ldots}\mspace{14mu},{n;{n \geq 2};}} \right. & {{{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(1)};}\end{matrix}$

Y₀ represents a set obtained by dividing each value in X₀ by an averageof all the values in X₀, and Y_(i) represents a set obtained by dividingeach value in X_(i) by an average of all the values in X_(i);

calculating differences between sequences: after the dimensionalnormalization, calculating differences between the values of thereference variable row and each comparative variable row incorresponding columns according to the following Formula (2), andobtaining the absolute values of the differences to form a new tablewith the reference variable row omitted:Δ_(i)(k)=|Y ₀(k)−Y _(i)(k)|  Formula (2);

where Δ_(i)(k) represents the absolute value;

determining grey relational coefficients: calculating relationalcoefficients of comparative sequences to the reference sequenceaccording to Formula (3) below:

$\begin{matrix}{{\xi_{i} = \frac{{\min\limits_{{i - 1},n}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{{k - 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack} + {\rho{\max\limits_{{i = 1},n}\left\lbrack {\max\limits_{{k = 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack}}}{{\Delta_{i}(k)} + {\rho{\max\limits_{{i = 1},n}\left\lbrack {\max\limits_{{k = 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack}}}};} & {{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(3)}\end{matrix}$

where ρ is an identification coefficient, generally ρ∈(0, 1), having avalue of 0.5; and

$\min\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{k}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack$

represents a minimum difference of two extremes, while

$\min\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{k}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack$

represents a maximum difference of two extremes;

calculating grey relational grade according to Formula (4) below:

$\begin{matrix}{{r_{i} = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum{\xi_{i}(k)}}}};} & {{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(4)}\end{matrix}$

and

calculating respective averages of the relational coefficients to obtainthe grey relational grades.

The present disclosure provides a selection method of base asphalt forrubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis, including thefollowing steps: determining factors affecting the performance of rubberasphalt and rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators, where thefactors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt include a saturatemass percentage, an aromatic mass percentage, a resin mass percentage,an asphaltene mass percentage, a sum of saturate and aromatic masspercentages and a sum of resin and asphaltene mass percentages in baseasphalt; and the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicatorsinclude a softening point, penetration, ductility at 5° C., viscosity at180° C. and 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubberasphalt; ranking the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltaccording to respective affecting degrees thereof on each of the rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicators by using a grey relationalmethod; and determining affecting factors of chemical components of baseasphalt to the performance of rubber asphalt according to the results ofranking with respect to affecting degree, and selecting base asphaltaccording to the affecting factors. The present disclosure uses the greyrelational analysis method to systematically study the influences ofchemical components of base asphalt on the performance of rubberasphalt.

Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure has the followingadvantages:

1. Due to the use of a plurality of parameters and comprehensiveselection of performance indicators of rubber asphalt, the resultsobtained can accurately reflect the ranking of the factors affecting theperformance of rubber asphalt.

2. The method of the present disclosure has the advantages of convenientoperation, few restrictions, easy implementation, and reliable results,and is worthy of practical application and promotion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a selection method of base asphalt for rubberasphalt based on grey relational analysis according to the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure provides a selection method of base asphalt forrubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis, including thefollowing steps:

determine factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt and rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicators, where the factors affectingthe performance of rubber asphalt include a saturate mass percentage, anaromatic mass percentage, a resin mass percentage, an asphaltene masspercentage, a sum of saturate and aromatic mass percentages and a sum ofresin and asphaltene mass percentages in base asphalt; and the rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicators include a softening point,penetration, ductility at 5° C., viscosity at 180° C. and 48-hsegregation softening point difference of rubber asphalt;

rank the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt accordingto respective affecting degrees thereof on each of the rubber asphaltperformance evaluation indicators by using a grey relational method; and

determine affecting factors of chemical components of base asphalt tothe performance of rubber asphalt according to the results of rankingwith respect to affecting degree, and select base asphalt according tothe affecting factors.

In the present disclosure, the process of determining factors affectingthe performance of rubber asphalt and rubber asphalt performanceevaluation indicators preferably includes the following steps:

select two or more types of alternative base asphalt to prepare rubberasphalt samples;

measure the saturate mass percentage, the aromatic mass percentage, theresin mass percentage and the asphaltene mass percentage in each baseasphalt, and calculate the sum of saturate and aromatic mass percentagesand the sum of resin and asphaltene mass percentages in each baseasphalt; and

test the rubber asphalt samples with respect to the softening point, thepenetration, the ductility at 5° C., the viscosity at 180° C. and the48-h segregation softening point difference.

In the present disclosure, it is more preferred to select 6 types ofalternative base asphalt.

In a specific example of the present disclosure, the preparation ofrubber asphalt samples preferably includes the following steps: select 6different types of alternative base asphalt to prepare 6 rubber asphaltsamples: sample A, sample B, sample C, sample D, sample E, and sample F.

In the present disclosure, the process of ranking the factors affectingthe performance of rubber asphalt according to respective affectingdegrees thereof on each of the rubber asphalt performance evaluationindicators by using a grey relational method preferably includes thefollowing steps:

calculate grey relational grades: calculate respective grey relationalcoefficients of the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltto the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators by using thegrey relational method; calculate respective averages of the greyrelational coefficients to obtain respective grey relational grades ofthe factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt to the rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicators; and

rank the chemical components of base asphalt according to respectiveaffecting degrees thereof on each performance indicator of rubberasphalt based on the values of the grey relational grades of the factorsaffecting the performance of rubber asphalt to the rubber asphaltperformance evaluation indicators.

In the present disclosure, the process of calculating grey relationalgrades preferably includes the following steps:

tabulate testing results: use each of the softening point, thepenetration, the ductility at 5° C., the viscosity at 180° C. and the48-h segregation softening point difference of rubber asphalt as areference variable, and express the reference variable as the followingdiscrete sequence:X ₀=(X ₀(k)|k=1,2, . . . n); n≥2;  Reference variable

where the reference variable X₀ represents a set of values on a rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicator obtained from the n types ofrubber asphalt;

use the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt ascomparative variables, and express each comparative variable as thefollowing discrete sequence:X _(i)=(X _(i)(k)|k=1,2, . . . ,6) (i=1,2, . . . ,n); n≥2;  Comparativevariable

where the comparative variable X_(i) represents a set of values of eachfactor affecting the performance of rubber asphalt as a variable, with irepresenting the ith component variable and k representing the kth baseasphalt;

tabulate the comparative variables and the reference variable, withdifferent variables being arranged in rows and different samples beingarranged in columns;

perform dimensional normalization: perform dimensional normalization ondifferent variables by dividing each value by an average to obtainrespective values of the reference variable and the comparativevariables, and calculate such values according to Formula (1) below:

$\begin{matrix}\left\{ {{{\begin{matrix}{Y_{0} = \left\{ {{{{{X_{0}(k)}/{\overset{\_}{X}}_{0}}❘k} = 1},2,{\ldots\mspace{14mu} 6}} \right\}} \\{Y_{i}\left\{ {{{{{X_{i}(k)}/{\overset{\_}{X}}_{i}}❘k} = 1},2,\ldots\mspace{14mu},6} \right\}\left( {{i = 1},2,\ldots\mspace{14mu},6} \right)}\end{matrix}{where}\mspace{14mu} k} = 1},2,{\ldots\mspace{14mu}\ldots}\mspace{14mu},{n;{n \geq 2};}} \right. & {{{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(1)};}\end{matrix}$

Y₀ represents a set obtained by dividing each value in X₀ by an averageof all the values in X₀, and Y_(i) represents a set obtained by dividingeach value in X_(i) by an average of all the values in X_(i);

calculate differences between sequences: after the dimensionalnormalization, calculate differences between the values of the referencevariable row and each comparative variable row in corresponding columnsaccording to the following Formula (2), and obtain the absolute valuesof the differences to form a new table with the reference variable rowomitted:Δ_(i)(k)=Y ₀(k)−Y _(i)(k)|  Formula (2);

where Δ_(i)(k) represents the absolute value;

determine grey relational coefficients: calculate relationalcoefficients of comparative sequences to the reference sequenceaccording to Formula (3) below:

$\begin{matrix}{{\xi_{i} = \frac{{\min\limits_{{i - 1},n}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{{k - 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack} + {\rho{\max\limits_{{i = 1},n}\left\lbrack {\max\limits_{{k = 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack}}}{{\Delta_{i}(k)} + {\rho{\max\limits_{{i = 1},n}\left\lbrack {\max\limits_{{k = 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack}}}};} & {{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(3)}\end{matrix}$

where ρ is an identification coefficient, generally ρ∈(0, 1), having avalue of 0.5; and

$\min\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{k}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack$

represents a minimum difference of two extremes, while

$\min\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{k}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack$

represents a maximum difference of two extremes;

calculate a grey relational grade according to Formula (4) below:

$\begin{matrix}{{r_{i} = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum{\xi_{i}(k)}}}};} & {{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(4)}\end{matrix}$

and

calculate respective averages of the relational coefficients to obtainthe grey relational grades.

In the present disclosure, the reference variable X₀ represents a set ofvalues on a performance indicator obtained from 6 types of rubberasphalt. Taking the softening point of rubber asphalt for example, thereference variable X₀ represents a set of softening point values of 6types of rubber asphalt, and there are a total of 6 values included inX₀: X₀ (1), X₀ (2), X₀ (3), X₀ (4), X₀ (5), and X₀ (6), with X₀ (1)representing the softening point of the first rubber asphalt (sample A),and so on.

In the present disclosure, the comparative variable X_(i) represents aset of values on a component variable obtained from 6 types of rubberasphalt, with i representing the ith component variable and krepresenting the kth base asphalt. For example, X_(i) represents a setof saturate mass percentage values of 6 types of base asphalt, includinga total of 6 values: X₁ (1), X₁ (2), X₁ (3), X₁ (4), X₁ (5), and X₁ (6),with X₁ (3) representing the saturate mass percentage in the third baseasphalt, and so on. Similarly, X₃ (4) represents the asphaltene masspercentage in the fourth base asphalt.

To further explain the present disclosure, the selection method for baseasphalt for rubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis provided inthe present disclosure will be described in detail in conjunction withexamples, which, however, cannot be interpreted as limitations to theprotection scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the selection method for base asphalt forrubber asphalt based on grey relational analysis according to Example 1of the present disclosure. The selection method includes the followingsteps: determine factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt andrubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators; rank the factorsaffecting the performance of rubber asphalt according to respectiveaffecting degrees thereof on each of the rubber asphalt performanceevaluation indicators by using a grey relational method, in which thepreparation of rubber asphalt and testing of performance indicators areinvolved; determine affecting factors of chemical components of baseasphalt to the performance of rubber asphalt, and select base asphaltaccording to the affecting factors. The process of testing theperformance indicators includes tabulation of testing results,dimensional normalization, calculation of differences between sequences,calculation of grey relational coefficients, and calculation of greyrelational grades.

Example 1

A selection method of base asphalt for rubber asphalt based on greyrelational analysis was implemented by the following steps:

1) A plurality of factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltand a plurality of rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators weredetermined.

In this example, a saturate mass percentage, an aromatic masspercentage, a resin mass percentage, an asphaltene mass percentage, asum of saturate and aromatic mass percentages and a sum of resin andasphaltene mass percentages in base asphalt were selected as 6 factorsaffecting the performance of rubber asphalt.

The softening point, penetration, ductility at 5° C., viscosity at 180°C. and 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubber asphaltwere selected as the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators.

2) The affecting factors of chemical components of base asphalt to theperformance of rubber asphalt were ranked according to their affectingdegrees by using the grey relational method:

2.1) Preparation of rubber asphalt: Gaofu 70# base asphalt, Maoming 70#base asphalt, Shell 70# base asphalt, Esso 70# base asphalt, Dongyou 70#base asphalt and Tipco 70# base asphalt, and 30-mesh rubber powder(rubber powder was doped in an amount of 25% by mass of asphalt) wereselected to prepare 6 different types of rubber asphalt: sample A,sample B, sample C, sample D, sample E and sample F.

2.2) Testing on affecting factors: the saturate, aromatic, resin andasphaltene components of the 6 types of base asphalt were tested, andthe sum of the saturate and aromatic mass percentages and the sum ofresin and asphaltene mass percentages in each of the 6 types of baseasphalt were calculated, with results being listed in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Testing Results (wt %) of Four Components of Base AsphaltAsphalt Saturate Aromatic Resin Asphaltene Resin + Saturate + Brand (%)(%) (%) (%) Asphaltene (%) Aromatic (%) Gaofu 70# 18.36 46.82 26.62 8.2034.82 65.18 Maoming 70# 14.56 41.36 31.52 12.56 44.08 55.92 Shell 70#14.19 43.75 31.73 10.33 42.06 57.94 Esso 70# 17.33 45.06 28.55 9.0637.61 62.39 Dongyou 70# 13.20 43.24 30.23 13.33 43.56 56.44 Tipco 70#17.24 46.30 27.22 9.24 36.46 63.54

2.3: Testing on performance indicators of rubber asphalt: with referenceto Standard Test Methods of Bitumen and Bituminous Mixtures for HighwayEngineering (JTG. E20-2011), the softening point, penetration, ductilityat 5° C., viscosity at 180° C. and 48-h segregation softening pointdifference of each sample were tested, with results being listed inTable 2.

TABLE 2 Performance Testing Results of Rubber Asphalt 48-h DuctilityViscosity Segregation Softening at at Softening Point Point Penetration5° C. 180° C. Difference (° C.) (0.1 mm) (cm) (Pa · s) (° C.) Sample A61.6 46.5 15.3 1.65 1.6 Sample B 70.3 45.0 9.8 2.29 2.2 Sample C 70.543.5 10.5 1.96 0.9 Sample D 62.7 46.6 11.6 2.03 1.6 Sample E 70.0 40.19.0 2.35 1.9 Sample F 61.6 48.0 10.9 1.99 1.4

2.4) Calculation of grey relational grades: the grey relational methodwas used to analyze the influences of the chemical components of baseasphalt on the performance of rubber asphalt, including the steps oftabulation of testing results, dimensional normalization, calculation ofdifferences between sequences, calculation of grey relationalcoefficients, calculation of grey relational grades, and ranking. Takingthe calculation process of grey relational grades of the affectingfactors to the softening point of rubber asphalt for example, thespecific steps were as follows:

(1) Tabulation of testing results: the softening point values ofdifferent types of rubber asphalt were arranged in a row as a referencesequence Xa, and respective percentages of four components of asphalt(listed as a group of indicators), and the sum of resin and asphaltenepercentages and the sum of saturate and aromatic percentages arearranged in different rows to form comparative sequences: X₁ (saturate,wt %), X₂ (aromatic, wt %), X₃ (resin, wt %), X₄ (asphaltene, wt %), X₅(the sum of resin and asphaltene percentages, wt %), X₆ (the sum ofsaturate and aromatic percentages, wt %), with the results being shownin Table 3.

TABLE 3 Testing Results of Softening Point of Rubber Asphalt and FourComponents of Base Asphalt Gaofu Maoming Esso Shell Dongyou TipcoSoftening point 61.6 70.3 62.7 70.5 70 61.6 Saturate 18.36 14.56 17.3314.19 13.2 17.24 Aromatic 46.82 41.36 45.06 43.75 43.24 46.3 Resin 26.6231.52 28.55 31.73 30.23 27.22 Asphaltene 8.2 12.56 9.06 10.33 13.33 9.24Resin + Asphaltene 34.82 44.08 37.61 42.06 43.56 36.46 Saturate +Aromatic 65.18 55.92 62.39 57.94 56.44 63.54

(2) Dimensional normalization: dimensional normalization was performedon different variables by dividing each value by an average. Thecalculation was performed according to Formula (1), with the calculationresults being shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Initialization of Testing Results Affecting Factor Gaofu MaomingEsso Shell Dongyou Tipco Y₀ 0.932 1.063 0.948 1.066 1.059 0.932 Y₁ 1.1610.921 1.096 0.897 0.835 1.090 Y₂ 1.054 0.931 1.014 0.985 0.973 1.042 Y₃0.908 1.075 0.974 1.083 1.031 0.929 Y₄ 0.779 1.192 0.860 0.981 1.2660.877 Y₅ 0.922 1.167 0.996 1.114 1.153 0.965 Y₆ 1.082 0.928 1.036 0.9620.937 1.055

(3) Calculation of differences between sequences: after the dimensionalnormalization, differences between the values of the variable row andeach comparative variable row in corresponding columns (withoutconsidering the reference variable row) were calculated and the absolutevalues of the differences were obtained. The calculation was performedaccording to Formula (2) to obtain the absolute differences between thenormalized sequence of each affecting factor and the normalized sequenceof the softening point of rubber asphalt, with the calculation resultsbeing shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Absolute Differences of Sequences of Different Affecting FactorsAbsolute Difference Gaofu Maoming Esso Shell Dongyou Tipco Δ₀₁ 0.2290.143 0.148 0.169 0.224 0.159 Δ₀₂ 0.122 0.132 0.066 0.081 0.085 0.111Δ₀₃ 0.024 0.012 0.026 0.016 0.027 0.003 Δ₀₄ 0.153 0.129 0.088 0.0860.207 0.054 Δ₀₅ 0.010 0.104 0.048 0.047 0.095 0.034 Δ₀₆ 0.150 0.1350.087 0.104 0.122 0.123

(4) Determination of grey relational coefficients: from Table 5, itcould be obtained that

$\Delta_{\max} = {{\max\limits_{i}{\max\limits_{k}{{{X_{0}(k)} - {X_{i}(k)}}}}} = {{0.229\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}\Delta_{\min}} = {{\min\limits_{i}{\min\limits_{k}{{{X_{0}(k)} - {X_{i}(k)}}}}} = {0.003.}}}}$

The relational coefficient of each value was calculated according toFormula (3) (ρ=0.5), with the calculation results being shown in Table6.

TABLE 6 Grey Relational Coefficients of Different Affecting FactorsRelational Relational Coefficient Gaofu Maoming Esso Shell Dongyou TipcoGrade ζ₀₁ 0.342 0.458 0.449 0.415 0.348 0.431 0.407 ζ₀₂ 0.497 0.4770.651 0.600 0.589 0.523 0.556 ζ₀₃ 0.852 0.929 0.839 0.899 0.829 1.0000.869 ζ₀₄ 0.440 0.483 0.580 0.588 0.366 0.696 0.525 ζ₀₅ 0.947 0.5380.726 0.726 0.562 0.793 0.715 ζ₀₆ 0.444 0.472 0.582 0.537 0.498 0.4950.505

(5) Calculation of grey relational grades: the grey relational gradebetween two sequences was calculated according to Formula (4), with thecalculation results being shown in Table 6.

Each of the penetration, ductility, viscosity and 48-h segregationsoftening point difference of rubber asphalt was used as the referencevariable, while respective percentages of four components of asphalt(listed as a group of indicators), and the sum of resin and asphaltenepercentages and the sum of saturate and aromatic percentages were usedas the comparative variables. The steps of (1) tabulation of testingresults, (2) dimensional normalization, (3) calculation of differencesbetween sequences, (4) determination of grey relational coefficients and(5) calculation of grey relational grades in the calculation ofrelational grades were performed repeatedly to obtain the relationalgrades of the affecting factors to the penetration ductility, viscosityand 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubber asphalt,respectively, with the calculation results being shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Summarization of Relational Grade Values of Different SequencesRelational Resin + Saturate + Grade r Saturate Aromatic Resin AsphalteneAsphaltene Aromatic Softening point 0.407 0.556 0.869 0.525 0.715 0.505Penetration 0.748 0.844 0.647 0.536 0.601 0.877 Ductility 0.794 0.7610.653 0.576 0.625 0.793 Viscosity 0.534 0.660 0.735 0.724 0.785 0.645Segregation 0.538 0.635 0.672 0.673 0.680 0.604 softening pointdifference

2.5) The affecting factors were ranked according to their affectingdegrees on the pavement performance of rubber asphalt. Based on thevalues of the grey relational grades of 6 affecting factors to thepavement performance of rubber asphalt, the affecting factors wereranked according to their affecting degrees on the pavement performance.When the grey relational grade of a factor was closer to 1, the factorhad greater influence on the system.

(1) Ranking of the affecting factors with respect to the influence onthe softening point of rubber asphalt

As could be seen from the Table 7, the affecting factors were rankedaccording to their affecting degrees on the softening point of rubberasphalt in the following order: the resin mass percentage>the sum ofresin and asphaltene mass percentages>the aromatic mass percentage>theasphaltene mass percentage>the sum of saturate and aromatic masspercentages>the saturate mass percentage.

(2) Ranking of the affecting factors with respect to the influence onthe penetration of rubber asphalt

As could be seen from Table 7, the affecting factors were rankedaccording to their affecting degrees on the penetration of rubberasphalt in the following order: the sum of saturate and aromatic masspercentages>the aromatic mass percentage>the saturate masspercentage>the resin mass percentage>the sum of resin and asphaltenemass percentages>the asphaltene mass percentage.

(3) Ranking of the affecting factors with respect to the influence onthe ductility at 5° C. of rubber asphalt

As could be seen from Table 7, the affecting factors were rankedaccording to their affecting degrees on the ductility at 5° C. of rubberasphalt in the following order: the saturate mass percentage>the sum ofsaturate and aromatic mass percentages>the aromatic mass percentage>theresin mass percentage>the sum of resin and asphaltene masspercentages>the asphaltene mass percentage.

(4) Ranking of the affecting factors with respect to the influence onthe viscosity at 180° C. of rubber asphalt

As could be seen from Table 7, the affecting factors were rankedaccording to their affecting degrees on the viscosity at 180° C. ofrubber asphalt in the following order: the sum of resin and asphaltenemass percentages>the resin mass percentage>the asphaltene masspercentage>the aromatic mass percentage>the sum of saturate and aromaticmass percentages>the saturate mass percentage.

(5) Ranking of the affecting factors with respect to the influence onthe 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubber asphalt

As could be seen from Table 7, the affecting factors were rankedaccording to their affecting degrees on the 48-h segregation softeningpoint difference of rubber asphalt in the following order: the sum ofresin and asphaltene mass percentages>the asphaltene mass percentage>theresin mass percentage>the aromatic mass percentage>the sum of saturateand aromatic mass percentages>the saturate mass percentage.

3) Major affecting factors of the chemical components of base asphalt tothe performance of rubber asphalt were determined:

By step 2.5), the major affecting factors of the chemical components ofbase asphalt to the performance of rubber asphalt could be obtained,where the resin mass percentage showed the highest affecting degree onthe softening point of rubber asphalt; the sum of saturate and aromaticmass percentages showed the highest affecting degree on the penetrationof rubber asphalt; the saturate mass percentage showed the highestaffecting degree on the ductility at 5° C. of rubber asphalt; the sum ofresin and asphaltene mass percentages showed the highest affectingdegree on the viscosity at 180° C. and the 48-h segregation softeningpoint difference of rubber asphalt.

By analyzing the influences of the percentages of four components inbase asphalt on the pavement performance of rubber asphalt, the presentdisclosure can provide some theoretical references for the production,application and promotion of rubber asphalt. In view of differentrequirements of different application areas and different pavementstructure layers on the pavement performance of rubber asphalt, baseasphalt can be selected or rubber asphalt can be further regulated andmodified based on the above conclusions. For example, as regards rubberasphalt requiring high performance at high temperature, it is desirableto select base asphalt having a high percentage of resin as the rawmaterial, and for rubber asphalt requiring high performance at lowtemperature, it is desirable to select base asphalt having a high totalpercentage of resin and asphaltene as the raw material. After baseasphalt is selected, the components of the base asphalt can be regulatedby adding desired components.

The foregoing are merely descriptions of preferred embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosurein any form. It should be noted that improvements and modifications canbe made by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing fromthe principles of the present disclosure, and these improvements andmodifications shall be deemed as falling within the protection scope ofthe present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A selection method of base asphalt for rubberasphalt based on grey relational analysis, comprising the followingsteps: determining factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltand rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators, wherein thefactors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt comprise a saturatemass percentage, an aromatic mass percentage, a resin mass percentage,an asphaltene mass percentage, a sum of saturate and aromatic masspercentages and a sum of resin and asphaltene mass percentages in baseasphalt; and the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicatorscomprise a softening point, penetration, ductility at 5° C., viscosityat 180° C. and 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubberasphalt; ranking the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltaccording to respective affecting degrees thereof on each of the rubberasphalt performance evaluation indicators by using a grey relationalmethod; and determining affecting factors of chemical components of baseasphalt to the performance of rubber asphalt according to the results ofranking with respect to affecting degree, and selecting base asphaltaccording to the affecting factors.
 2. The selection method according toclaim 1, wherein the determining factors affecting the performance ofrubber asphalt and rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicatorscomprises the following steps: selecting two or more types ofalternative base asphalt to prepare rubber asphalt samples; measuringthe saturate mass percentage, the aromatic mass percentage, the resinmass percentage and the asphaltene mass percentage in each base asphalt,and calculating the sum of saturate and aromatic mass percentages andthe sum of resin and asphaltene mass percentages in each base asphalt;and testing the rubber asphalt samples with respect to the softeningpoint, the penetration, the ductility at 5° C., the viscosity at 180° C.and the 48-h segregation softening point difference.
 3. The selectionmethod according to claim 2, wherein the ranking the factors affectingthe performance of rubber asphalt according to respective affectingdegrees thereof on each of the rubber asphalt performance evaluationindicators by using a grey relational method comprises the followingsteps: calculating grey relational grades: calculating respective greyrelational coefficients of the factors affecting the performance ofrubber asphalt to the rubber asphalt performance evaluation indicatorsby using the grey relational method; calculating respective averages ofthe grey relational coefficients to obtain respective grey relationalgrades of the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphalt to therubber asphalt performance evaluation indicators; and ranking thechemical components of base asphalt according to respective affectingdegrees thereof on each performance indicator of rubber asphalt based onthe values of the grey relational grades of the factors affecting theperformance of rubber asphalt to the rubber asphalt performanceevaluation indicators.
 4. The selection method according to claim 3,wherein the calculating grey relational grades comprises the followingsteps: tabulating testing results: using each of the softening point,the penetration, the ductility at 5° C., the viscosity at 180° C. andthe 48-h segregation softening point difference of rubber asphalt as areference variable, which is expressed as the following discretesequence:X ₀=(X ₀(k)|k=1,2, . . . ,n); n≥2;  reference variable wherein thereference variable X₀ represents a set of values on a rubber asphaltperformance evaluation indicator obtained from the n types of rubberasphalt; using the factors affecting the performance of rubber asphaltas comparative variables, each of which is expressed as the followingdiscrete sequence:X _(i)(X _(i)(k)|k=1,2, . . . ,6) (i=1,2, . . . ,n); n≥2;  comparativevariable wherein the comparative variable X_(i) represents a set ofvalues of each factor affecting the performance of rubber asphalt as avariable, with i representing the ith component variable and krepresenting the kth base asphalt; tabulating the comparative variablesand the reference variable, with different variables being arranged inrows and different samples being arranged in columns; performingdimensional normalization: performing dimensional normalization ondifferent variables by dividing each value by an average to obtainrespective values of the reference variable and the comparativevariables, which are calculated according to Formula (1) below:$\begin{matrix}\left\{ {{{\begin{matrix}{Y_{0} = \left\{ {{{{{X_{0}(k)}/{\overset{\_}{X}}_{0}}❘k} = 1},2,{\ldots\mspace{14mu} 6}} \right\}} \\{Y_{i}\left\{ {{{{{X_{i}(k)}/{\overset{\_}{X}}_{i}}❘k} = 1},2,\ldots\mspace{14mu},6} \right\}\left( {{i = 1},2,\ldots\mspace{14mu},6} \right)}\end{matrix}{where}\mspace{14mu} k} = 1},2,{\ldots\mspace{14mu}\ldots}\mspace{14mu},{n;{n \geq 2};}} \right. & {{{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(1)};}\end{matrix}$ Y₀ represents a set obtained by dividing each value in X₀by an average of all the values in X₀, and Y_(i) represents a setobtained by dividing each value in X_(i) by an average of all the valuesin X_(i); calculating differences between sequences: after thedimensional normalization, calculating differences between the values ofthe reference variable row and each comparative variable row incorresponding columns according to the following Formula (2), andobtaining the absolute values of the differences to form a new tablewith the reference variable row omitted:Δ_(i)(k)=|Y ₀(k)−Y _(i)(k)|  Formula (2); wherein Δ_(i)(k) representsthe absolute value; determining grey relational coefficients:calculating relational coefficients of comparative sequences to thereference sequence according to Formula (3) below: $\begin{matrix}{{\xi_{i} = \frac{{\min\limits_{{i - 1},n}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{{k - 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack} + {\rho{\max\limits_{{i = 1},n}\left\lbrack {\max\limits_{{k = 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack}}}{{\Delta_{i}(k)} + {\rho{\max\limits_{{i = 1},n}\left\lbrack {\max\limits_{{k = 1},n}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack}}}};} & {{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(3)}\end{matrix}$ wherein ρ is an identification coefficient, generallyρ∈(0, 1), having a value of 0.5; and$\min\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{k}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack$ represents a minimum difference of two extremes, while$\min\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {\min\limits_{k}{\Delta_{i}(k)}} \right\rbrack$ represents a maximum difference of two extremes; calculating greyrelational grades according to Formula (4) below: $\begin{matrix}{{r_{i} = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum{\xi_{i}(k)}}}};} & {{Formula}\mspace{14mu}(4)}\end{matrix}$  and calculating respective averages of the relationalcoefficients to obtain the grey relational grades.